New U.S. Manufacturing Companies Announced in April 2021

Above: A Becton Dickinson manufacturing facility. Becton Dickinson has recently announced plans to establish a new medical technology facility in Tucson. Photo Cred: Joan Ford I Becton Dickinson

Demand for U.S. manufactured goods continues to accelerate, with manufacturing activity hitting a 38-year high, new orders surging, and more industrial buyers looking for supplies closer to home.

As a result, new manufacturing companies and expansions are announced every month and April was no exception. This month, a number of new industrial companies made headlines, reflecting significant investments in biotech, COVID response, advanced electronics, food manufacturing and more.

Spanning nine states and representing billions in investment, these are the new and expanded manufacturing plants announced in April.

New Manufacturing Plants Announced in April 2021

Major Biotech Investments

In Arizona, medical technology company BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company), announced plans to invest $65 million in new final state manufacturing and sterilization center. Built on 32 acres in Tucson, the new facility will encompass 120,000 square feet and will employ 40. As part of the BD’s COVID-19 response, the company is investing in its in-house manufacturing and sterilization and hopes to advance its goals of operational efficiency and supply chain resilience.

Meanwhile, in Wisconsin, Catalent Biologics announced it has expanded its Madison manufacturing facility, doubling its clinical and commercial drug substance capacity. Established in 2013, Catalent Biologic’s facility develops and manufactures new biological entities and biosimilars and developed a new cell line technology that produces high-yielding mammalian cell lines.

Electronics & High Tech Make Headlines

This month, Apple unveiled plans to invest $430 billion in U.S. investments and create 20,000 jobs over the next eight years, according to a statement released April 26th. This will include a new campus and engineering hub in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.

Also, in Massachusetts, Optikos Corporation announced it has expanded contract manufacturing at its Wakefield plant. Optikos manufactures electro-optical assemblies and instrumentation and also provides optical engineering product services. This new expansion increases the plant’s size to 48,000 square feet, 20,000 square feet of which will be manufacturing and engineering space.

In Kentucky, auto supplier Eberspaecher North America announced it would be establishing a new facility in Louisville. Eberspaecher is a system developer and supplier of exhaust technology and automotive electronics, based in Germany. This new $30 million investment is expected to bring 214 jobs to the area and will occupy more than 125,000 square feet of an existing 314,500 square-foot facility. The press release from the Cabinet for Economic Development in Kentucky noted that Eberspaecher is among 78 German-owned manufacturing, service and technology companies operating in the state which employ nearly 14,000 Kentuckians. Further reading: Top 10 Manufacturing Companies in Kentucky

Satellite manufacturer ICEYE announced it has established a new manufacturing plant in Irvine, California, which will also serve as Mission Operations Center for monitoring and operating U.S. licensed spacecraft. ICEYE’s small satellites are able to circumnavigate cloud cover and produce high-resolution images of Earth during any time frame and through cloud cover.

Food Manufacturing

In Colorado, pet supplement manufacturer PetDine opened its second state-of-the-art facility near its Fort Collins headquarters. The new 10,000 square foot plant will help the company increase production capacity for liquid food toppers and will serve as an adjunct space to its Harvard, IL food topper plant. PetDine is North America’s largest pet supplement manufacturer, producing customized pet products, soft chews, powder supplements and food toppers.

Tyson Foods announced this month that it is opening a new $425 million poultry complex in Humboldt, Tennessee. The new 370,000 square-foot facility is expected to begin production in late April 2021 and so far several hundred workers have been hired. Once fully operational in 2023, the plant will employ 1,500. Tyson Foods is multinational food products company, and ranks as the world’s second largest processor of meat products and produces 20% of all the pork, beef, chicken consumed in the United States. The new Humboldt plant will be the company’s fifth Tennessee facility.

Other Major Announcements This Week

Farm equipment manufacturer Dawn Equipment, which makes conservation tillage implements, has opened a second factory in Wisconsin, moving into a former Caterpillar plant in South Milwaukee. The new 75,000 square foot factory will employ 25 and will be part of the company’s focus away from aftermarket attachments to the OEM space.

“The interesting thing about Milwaukee is there’s such a legacy of heavy equipment manufacturing. You have all the pieces you need right here, in terms of steel, heat treating and the labor pool. It’s a really amazing ecosystem of manufacturers,” said Dawn’s CEO Joe Bassett, as reported in No Till Farmer.

In Texas, packaging company Pregis announced the establishment of two new facilities in the Lone Star State to support heightened demand in the U.S. South. The first facility, a 128,000 square foot plant in Garland, recently opened and is now producing protective packaging materials, and is expected to employ up to 84.

In addition to the Garland facility, Pregis is also establishing a 265,000 square foot plant in Arlington and will produce the Pregis EverTec mailer once production starts his summer. The facility is currently looking to add 80 workers.

Polykemi Group, a Sweden-based manufacturer of high-quality plastic compounds, announced plans this month to invest nearly $12 million to establish a new plant in Gastonia, North Carolina. Their new U.S. plant represents the single largest investment in the company’s history. The facility currently encompasses 50,000 square feet and is expandable to 100,000 square feet and will be fully operational in the second quarter of next year.

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Missed last month? Read New U.S. Manufacturing Plants Announced In March 2021. Or check out our 2020 roundup: 2020 in Review: The Year in New Manufacturing Plants.